Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is trying to pressure Republicans into supporting an extension of the payroll tax cuts backed by President Barack Obama. And in the process, Reid is also trying to grow the list of supporters for his leadership PAC and maybe even raise a buck or two.

On Saturday, an email blasted from Reid’s leadership PAC — called the Searchlight Leadership Fund — asked individuals to sign a petition to “stop the GOP tax hike.”

“Clicking this link could mean $1,500 in the pocket of nearly every American family: Republicans are trying to force a tax hike on the middle class, and I need your help to stop them,” Reid wrote in the email, obtained by OpenSecrets Blog.

“By refusing to let us extend a payroll tax cut that would put money in the pockets of working families and help small business owners hire more workers, Republicans are showing once again that their loyalties lie with the wealthiest few,” Reid continued. “They’re hoping to kill this important assistance quietly so that people won’t notice that they’re doing it to protect powerful interests. But we still have a little bit of time to raise a public furor and force the GOP to let us help those in need.”

According to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, Reid is one of more than 370 politicians with a leadership PAC — pools of money that cannot be used to cover expenses related to their own elections, but are often used to dole out money to political friends and allies.

As of June 30, the date of the most recent campaign finance reporting deadline for leadership PACs this year, Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund had raised about $608,000, according to the Center’s research. And during the first six months of 2011, this group has doled out $220,000 in donations to other federal candidates — mostly senators or Senate candidates.

During the 2010 election cycle, Reid’s Searchlight Leadership Fund raised $1.02 million, and contributed $174,500 to federal candidates, according to the Center’s research.

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